Review: Koto Go Silence Animated Storybook for iPad

Koto Go Silence is an animated storybook for kids for the iPad. It tells the story of Koto, a brave and steadfast defender of his house against everything that goes bump in the night.

I’ve got an 8 year old daughter (Zoe) who loves stories and reading, which makes her parents very happy. So she and I are always on the lookout for good iPad books to enjoy. Yesterday evening we took a look at Koto Go Silence. And we both loved it. Hit the break for more screenshots and to hear the reasons we love this iPad storybook …

Here are some of the app’s key features:

* CG character animation with exciting segments. * Relatable day-to-day experiences for young children. * Interactive texts with English read-along functions. * Once installed, the App can be played even when offline.

You tap on the words on each page to hear them read to you. The narration is very nicely done.

So far, this may well sound like just another iPad eBook for kids. Two things set it apart: a charming and well-told story and wonderful animations.

Koto is tasked with silencing a number of strange sounds heard all around his house one night – from the basement to the roof.

He dons his armor and declares himself a samurai of the night, ready to track all the odd, spooky noises down.

The story is lighthearted and quite funny – as each scary noise turns out to be caused by a harmless household item – the washing machine or wind chimes for example.

The animations of Koto and his surroundings are superb. Some of the very best I’ve seen on the iPad. They’re also often very funny.

And of course Koto ends up tracking down and silencing all but one of the mysterious noises. Both he and his owner decide the wind chimes are a pleasant noise to go to sleep to.

I thoroughly enjoyed Koto Go Silence. More importantly, my daughter was engrossed right from the first page, laughed often while reading it, and thought it was superb. I can tell this is one she will want to revisit often.

If you’ve got young kids who enjoy a good story and great animation, then I highly recommend this app.